₦airaland Forum

I dont get the message the poster is tryin to pass accross. . . . .

we have not had stable electricity for ages. . . .and Nigeria did not perish, y would d country then perish now?

Kobojunkie:
Please tell me you are joking with that above. WE HAVE NEVER tried to fight to make democracy work, so why would we then conclude that it will not work? Isn’t that like expecting a new born to start running from the start, before even crawling to strengthen its leg muscles, and bones?
I am sorry but that is a ridiculous way of concluding something will not work. WE HAVE NEVER EVEN MOVED A SINGLE MUSCLE TO ENSURE IT WORKS, why do we think it sane to then declare it a failure?

sounds like we are on different pages here.
the beauty of democracy is the independence of the electoral system, effectiveness of democratic institutions and the upholding of the rule of law. It is up to you to reach an opinion as to whether this works in Nigeria or not.
it would also b very unfair to say that efforts have not been made over time to make Nigeria's democracy work, the only difference has been the difference in approach.

So you know it is impossible even before you even try to be sure it is? WOW!!

sounds like u were not around when nzeribe led an "attempt" to impeach obasanjo, or when naaba attempted same tru the house of reps.
did they not have sufficient grounds to impeach obj?  did this attempt of theirs, considering how bitter they were go far?
while being pro-active it is pertinent to stay in touch with reality.

Do they have to be for you to use the law against them to gain back power as a people? Isn’t that sort of like saying ALL NIGERIANS ARE CRIMINALS when you know there are many in there who are not?

you dont see the bigger picture.
over half of the present crop of legislators had their electoral "victories" challenged in court. The manipulation of the judiciary is anoda issue.
none of the present legislators were congratulated by their opponents either in the elections of party primaries. that should tell a lot about the level of confidence they enjoy from the citizenry and the credibility of their elections.
if u did not win an election tru the democratic means, it is safe to assume that such victory is owed to a cabal in power. How then do you impeach a president who belongs to that cabal?

the picture u are creating is that of a western country where parliamentarians are easily approachable and are accountable cos of the quality of their electoral process. . . . . Nigeria aint like that.

I am so glad that not all Nigerians think this way, as there is hope for those of us who do not believe in messiahs to come save us from our own hands.

I have never and will not advocate for a political messiah to save anyone. but the people and revolutionaries need an identity, a voice and a face.
that's when leadership comes in. What revolution, either formal or informal, do u know of that have no leading figure?

And so? You mean you can never accomplish the same thing as that man if you tried? You mean we cannot have thousands of Nigerians better than him if we tried? You mean there are no honest Nigerians out there who, if giving the same sort of backing this man got from his colleagues, would accomplish even more than this man has? Is he an alien?

Dont get me wrong. I only made an example of the kind of approach that would be effective in a failing state like Nigeria.
I have never seen, considered or described Adams Oshiomole in any way as a hero, and i dont intend to do that now, for several reasons. Notwithstanding, his approach in shutting down the economy to get the attention of the rulers that be is a useful tool in demanding for change in nigeria without necessarily condoning violence.

Wait a sec. . .  you mention Oshiomole but then you immediately offer me the old way as excuse again? Can we be consistent?

Its not an excuse. . . , its as simple as this . . .  a revolution to change Nigeria cannot be effective if the present crop of political leaders are involved in the process. . . . .its as good as recycling bad leadership with a new face or putting old wine in a new bottle.

I have already dealt with this back and forth with someone else already. One mentions Gani who has been able to show us that we can stand up, and then follow it with it can never be done. Don’t you see the contradiction in all this? Aarrgghh!! Lol

Kudos to Gani, he is a trained lawyer. . . . . .he fought for the good of Nigeria using his knowledge and expertise. If everyone can use their skills, profession and training to advocate for change in Nigeria like Gani did, then we will be in a better place now.
However, every revolution requires a face and a name. . . . . .this is called leadership not "messiahship".

Kobojunkie:
Again, there is a difference between posting your dislike, of how he runs his administration, on a forum, or taking out a piece in the news papers to tell the world how the man is not doing well, and going out there to demand that he be impeached, doing all that is necessary to ensure the court look into it.

u r assuming that democracy actually works in Nigeria.
NO, it doesnt. impeaching the Nigerian president is very close to impossibility, considering how unworkable the process is and the enormous financial and security arsenal at his disposal. How many lagisLOOTERS are accesible to their constituents? how practicable is an impeachment proceeding in an intimidating environment?

I have never and will never advocate violence. Acting is not to be confused with such.

Good to know that.

If that works, then fine; there are so many ways to get the job done. What is left is actually getting people to act.

alternative ideas are welcomed. the people need leadership, there has to be someone who can justifiably rally d entire country. Adams Oshiomole did so with his NLC but was very short sighted.

Well, who is really in power? The people or those we elected to government seat? When we answer that question then we understand where we ought to be in the whole.

The people never voted them in. The people are also not in power. If and when the people seize power Nigeria will definitely b a better place.

Nelson Mandela anyday anytime. . . . .

u cannot compare the challenges and political environment Obama and Mandela faced. Mandela is a legend, Obama is still an evolvin character, time will tell his final place in history. . . . . i wish him well though. . . .

why dont u advise el-rufai to answer the charges against him before celebrating anyone as a hero.

we as Nigerians need to start encouraging past and present leaders to give account of their stewardship. unless and until el-rufai faces the nigerian legal system and comes out unstained. . . . . until then. . . . . he aint a hero in my book.

Kobojunkie:
Have we protested those leaders and demanded they step down if they are unwilling to do what we, the people want them to do for us? I mean how much longer do we continue to talk about the many, mostly, imagined walls that stop us from living the best life we can as Nigerians?

are u suggesting that the continuous condemnation of yaradua by everyone home and abroad is not enough ground for a leader with a conscience to resign from power?. . . . . .if u havent noticed, he has continued to snub the populace like we don't matter.

while I agree that a demand must be made for him and others to quit, a violent approach is however not welcomed (if that's what u have in mind)
but a deliberate and organised approach via the shut down of the nations economy in protest, that this people step down from power as applicable in the western world and even Thailand will be appropriate.

but of course, who in power will listen to protesters or strikers they are as good as rebels.

nice one. . . . .

Kobojunkie:
What does spreading the word about the case do? The Pictures were taken by unlookers, how many of them reported the violent acts and demanded the punishment of the perpetrator in question? And when I say demanded, I mean active.

you cant ask for more considerin wat has been done against the perpetrator of this shameful act by concerned Nigerians (on the part of the media and CLO's). . . . . .but of course the authourities have refused to move an inch.

Its a two way traffic, when the people protest an inhuman abuse of power there has to be a positive response from those in authority.

lucabrasi:
how can atiku be begging to meet nyako when he has mended fences with yar adua and has been seen attending functions with yar adua?
it is politically sensible for atiku to wait for nyako to approach him than the other way round

u cant b so sure. . . . . . . considerin that atiku is now more or less a political prostitute. . . .

jamace:
We are in the dark ages of Nigeria's development .

when will we gwt to the light stages. , . lol

funniest thread in d politics section. . . . . . , . . _{just subscribed}

While the concept of a united Africa as proposed by Ghadafi aint a bad idea, its intentions or ingenuity are however curious.
Ghadafi has started by proclaiming himself as Africa's "king of kings", This can only attest to the fact his main intention is to rule Africa.

Africa and the world at large must beware of this man who regardless of his "achievement" has refused to let democracy thrive in Libya.
Africa does not deserve a monarch. but Africa needs to have a united front in its foreign, economic and defence policies.

If the process of attaining this united front is anything other than democratic then Ghadafi must as well forget his ambitions at least in this life time.

Which public officer in Nigeria is not already compromised by affiliation b4 coming to power?. . , . . no be today. . .

@ topic

very funny but so true, . . .

have u got an e-mail addy??

convenants are relevant for and in all ages. . . , they are the products of a relationship with God.

In all of God's encounter with man, it is an established fact that He despises sin. He abhors it with all sincerity of purpose. And this largely explains why the books of exodus and Leviticus details the very content and context of sin.

God took His time and explicitly explained the rules of the game to Moses. Some through revelations, others by divine manifestation of His presence. The commonest product of which is the popular ten commandments God gave Moses on mount Sinai, recorded in the book of exodus.

In as much God despised sin and decreed great punishment for it. There has always been an atonement of sin. As a law without room for repentance is unjust. The atonement has always been the shedding of blood. A sacrificial offering to the throne of the Almighty. Which symbolizes repentance and re-institution, . . . . . . . . .

read full article here http://www.helium.com/items/625641-reflections-was-jesus-the-anti-christ

Since we are all aware of the rising demands for proxy scripts and concerns about quality.
This concerns I believe, have however been addressed such that a proxy script on the market with
phphantom stealth mods to block websense is what I use.

coupled with the fact that they already have a great link anonymizer to hide links
and have continued to build and update more proxy related mods including free proxy hosting and plugins.
It was designed and can be found on three websites including www.phphantom.com, www.zelune.com and www.zelune.net

This is the best I have found on the market.
Has anyone else tried it or used another one, lets compare for educational and quality purposes.

texazzpete:
Really such a shame that he is entire clueless on the amount of oil profit the Government retains. Nigeria keeps well over 80% of the proceeds from the sale of Crude oil.

how true is that?

Has any one got a link to the total content breakdown of nigeria's 2009 budget, as submitted to d national assembly?

one thing stupefies me about this pastor Joshua guy,

the press demonises him, but yet his conduct and acts speak volume of him.

I remember during the oykilome and okotie saga. while okotie was unmistakably insinuating wrong deeds about oyakilome and joshua (which was unbecoming of a Man of God, considering his choice of words) and oyakilome was busy defending himself in videos being shown in all his parishes. his (oyakilome) defense evoked someone who did not want to loose membership patronage, Joshua only had kind words for both of them. And I tink that this was well documented in the Tell mag that year.

Now again he prophesied to the pred of Ghana and refused to publicise it. Considerin the amount of publicity MOG's normally give to their prophecies many of which , , one can but commend the humility and simplicity of joshua.

Dear Mr. Keyamo,

Thank you for your response to me, which you have also made public. I’m sure you are aware that we have published it on SaharaReporters as well, even though you didn’t send it directly to me. I do understand your dismay at the fact that I published this publicly; but, just as you stated in the same vein, it is necessary “for people like you and I who insist on transparency in public life” not to act as though we have things to hide. It was posted as a matter of public information. At that point, it was only a request that you make your position publicly known on the issues. Now that you have responded, people can make their comments or make up their own minds about the matters I raised. For now, let me comment on your response in the same open manner we’ve been dealing.

(1) Your account of our personal relationship is replete with a lot of misinformation, which goes to show that we really don’t have the kind of personal relationship you’re claiming. I had not met you at the time of the formation of the National Conscience Party (NCP) on October 1, 1994 by which time I had actually graduated from the University of Lagos where I was a Students Union president and had been in national political activism for sometime. True, I was attacked by student cultists in March 1994, but I went for my National Youth Service between 1995 and 1996 and though I can’t readily recall now what exact date or time I met you for the first time, I do know that it was when I answered the invitation of Chief Gani Fawehinmi to his chambers at about this time. Chief Fawehinmi had invited me to inquire about my health and other things. After my meeting with him, he introduced me to the lawyers in his chambers. You were a junior lawyer there at the time and it was in that capacity you were introduced to me along with others who were there on the day. The person amongst you I knew well before then was Ebunola Adegboruwa (Big Sam). I did not get into any kind of discussion with you about my health or my plans to travel or anything of the sort. If I met you again, it must have been during his birthday party around the same period at his home. So, all this story of knowing you or being your friend for the past fifteen years is news to me. Yes, I can remember sending you emails and having telephone conversations with you a few times in the last few years to commend you for your activism, but that is only an acknowledgment of the good work I thought you were doing to hold our leaders accountable. Indeed, it is on the strength of the regard I have for you as an uncompromised activist (who in email exchanges and phone conversations had indicated keen interested in using the reports of SaharaReporters to pursue legal actions against people who ruin our nation) that I wrote you the letter that is now the subject of our present exchange. It was simply asking you to stay the course. Anyone can see that it was not an accusation of impropriety on your part.

(2) From my account above, you can understand when I say I’m baffled by your claim that I visited your office in Maryland “a number of times” to intimate you about my intentions to travel abroad to treat myself. You know this is a terrible lie, the purpose of which I cannot definitely determine - except to conjecture that you are saying this to keep up the appearance of our supposed closeness. I don’t know your office or your home or your social watering holes because I simply do not know you on those levels. You again claim I visited you when I was in Nigeria “a few years ago” (you didn’t state where), but again, how can this be true when it never happened? If indeed, you are my friend the way you are making out and if indeed I visited you after such a long time of going for this supposed medical treatment, why did you not ask me then about my health or the medical treatment? What could we possibly have discussed on the day that was more important than my health or travel? Why make apologies about that now in your response? Of course, you didn’t ask me because it never happened. I have no problem describing you as a friend, but you don’t have to concoct lies to show the extent of it.

(3) Contrary to your insinuations that my life revolved around my medical problems or the cult attack, I did not leave Nigeria until the military had departed from power. My life at the time was dedicated to the pro-democracy struggle. Our colleagues, common acquaintances and activists in the pro-democracy movement would attest to the fact that I was very active especially in the United Action for Democracy (UAD) and also as one of the brains behind several civil society flagship actions against military rule, including the famous "Five Million Man March Against Abacha". I also led the activists that took over the burial of Chief M.K.O Abiola and on the day gave a funeral oration that was published in the TELL magazine in 1998. In my last engagement before leaving Nigeria, I led thousands of students to demonstrate against military excesses at the National University Games (NUGA) in 1998 at the University of Lagos. I was arrested and detained alongside Saint Omotaje (OAU, Ile-Ife) and Ponmile Oloyede (SUG President, UNILAG) for two weeks on the orders of Rear Admiral Mike Akhigbe. I was represented in the ensuing case by Sam Adegboruwa of Chief Gani Fawehinmi chambers and you never were part of it in anyway. My arrest and detention at the NUGA protests would mark the eighth time I had been detained and tortured by the authorities. If you knew all this, you could only have known it as any other Nigerian following national development at the time, not because I visited you or told you since we never met or talked at the time.

(4) You insinuated that I might have “falsified medical papers to travel abroad in search of a better life which is the worst form of corruption”. Okay, you are not saying so yourself, but merely advising that, “as a friend” I should send you “the duly authenticated medical records” so you know “how far the treatment has gone” to avoid “bad people” making the wrong insinuations. Well, thank you for your concern, but it would help if you cut out the veiled lies. Did I come to you for money to travel abroad for medical treatment? Why should my medical history be a great issue now simply because I wrote to you asking you to clarify your position with regard to the present corruption cases in your role “as a self-avowed public conscience and commentator on matters of corruption, abuse of office and human rights violations”?

(5) If anyone is interested in how I came to the United States, I am more than prepared to say and I would take the opportunity you have offered me here to say it. Originally, it was the Civil Liberties Organization (CLO) that arranged for me to go to the Medical Foundation in London. At the time also, another group in Switzerland offered me the same opportunity. But I didn’t take these. When I left Nigeria in February 1999, it was to the American University in Washington, DC for a conference. It was while I was there that Amy Goodman of ‘Democracy Now!’ contacted me to say that she could help me get checked at Bellevue Hospital under the New York University Torture Survival Program. I went through the program where I was treated for a year under the direction of Dr Allen Keller. I came back to Nigeria in June 2003 to be with friends and family after two years study at Columbia University in New York where I obtained a Masters degree. At the time, I appeared on a nationally televised TV show “Soni Irabor Live” where I talked extensively about my travel and medical treatment. I returned to the US and made the decision thereafter to settle in the country. The key point is that I am here legally. All I have stated here is freely available in several newspaper reports in the Nigerian and US media and is freely accessible on the internet as well.

(6) I am a little worried that you have, wittingly or unwittingly, couched our present exchange as a pro and anti-Ribadu affair. In that guise, you have taken the liberty to express your anti-Ribadu sentiments while painting me as some kind of pro-Ribadu person. The idea, of course, is to give the impression that whatever I am doing now as part of my consistent mission to hold persons in public service in our country accountable is only being done to discredit those who have replaced Ribadu or those we can now consider his enemies. Nothing can be further from the truth. In my work with SaharaReporters, I consistently opposed Mr. Nuhu Ribadu’s role as an attack dog or enabler of the Obasanjo regime; but you don’t expect me to begin to trumpet lies being told against him if I find these to be so. You obviously are miffed by the fact that SaharaReporters exposed the lies about his alleged properties in the UK and the US and on that basis you have categorized us as part of the Ribadu propaganda machine. Yet, all this was about was to hold the EFCC to a higher standard of investigation. By doing so, we were challenging the competence of an internationally acclaimed agency to carry out thorough investigations before rushing to the press. While we do not intend to replace the police or the EFCC, we are at least able to make use of tools freely available within and outside Nigeria to carry out thorough investigations and provide evidence where available to the public. If you are going to accuse Ribadu of anything, please let it be true, not embarrassing lies that could easily be exposed by the most amateur investigator who does not even need to leave his computer! These were not accusations made by any Tom, Dick and Harry; they were made formally by the organization you now represent, an organization run on public funds, an organization that owes Nigeria and Nigerians better standards than the shoddy accusations leveled against Ribadu, whatever the rightness or wrongness of his actions. As you know, SaharaReporters did not go out of its way to report on these. We merely investigated the information provided to the press and the public by your clients, the EFCC and came out with our findings. Mind you, we have repeatedly said that we cannot vouch for the truth or otherwise of the EFCC’s claim that Ribadu owns property in Dubai. This is because we do not have access to the United Arab Emirates' land registry information. However, we did reach out to the lawyers who sued Ribadu on the matter to furnish us with the details of the ownership of the Dubai property and so far, they’ve provided us with nothing. These findings are published on our website and we are aware that it is also subject of an ongoing litigation before an Abuja High Court. If today or tomorrow you find anything on Nuhu Ribadu that you think the public should know, do not hesitate to send it to us. The only thing is we will investigate and let Nigerians know our findings, because our duty is to inform the Nigerian and international public, no matter whose ox is gored, including Ribadu’s. Frankly, I would have thought that –given your avowed loyalty to the truth or to Nigeria-you would find your clients’ conduct totally unprofessional and unacceptable and tell them so, rather than turn round to accuse us of bias when the facts we presented from our investigation could not be impugned by you or your clients.


(7) Now, you did mention Ribadu’s home in Abuja, which he got through his father-in-law and on which his lawyers have made a detailed statement. While for me personally this is questionable, the fact remains that the information about that is now in the public domain and both parties are not disputing it. It’s left for Nigerians to look at the facts and judge Ribadu accordingly. But what you cannot do is compare what Ribadu has done in that transaction with what Mrs. Waziri has done with the properties she acquired since assuming office as EFCC chairperson. Mrs. Waziri has not admitted to the ownership of the properties. What the evidence available so far indicates is that she got this property on Trent River Street through the discretionary dispensation of a minister she was supposed to be investigating. The subsequent transfer of ownership of the said property to her daughter smacks of an attempt to hide true ownership. You have offered a tepid defence of her based on, I dare say a false representation of the facts. Mrs. Waziri’s daughter did not buy the property from her mum because the latter had no money to pay, neither is anything on record to indicate that her daughter’s husband paid for it. What is on record is that an EFCC operative, Mohammed Bako was used in a clearly shady manner to accomplish the transfer. The question is why? Is this a transparent transaction in your opinion? Are there no public accountability issues clearly arising from this? The fact that you as a savvy observer of public actions now accept this as above-board, going as far as to defend this in our public exchange worries me greatly.

( I cannot accept your excuse that you cannot speak up now against Mrs. Farida Waziri and Mr. Michael Aondoakaa because you have seen no “duly authenticated documents” about their involvement in corruption. I don’t know what you mean by “duly authenticated documents”, but investigative journalism is not dependent on official sanction of incriminating documents when the aim is to expose them. We have provided valid documents to the Nigerian public in our reports and so far, as you know, no one has accused us yet of providing forged or fake documents. Some of these documents and corrupt actions by these persons you have conveniently ignored are listed below:

(a) The secret letter from the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Mr. Michael Aondoakaa sent to Mr. James Ibori's lawyers, which included outright lies about his status was provided by SaharaReporters and carried by The Punch newspapers.

(b) The letter from the Attorney General and Minister of Justice Mr. Michael Aondoakaa addressed to the French authorities to exonerate former Minister of Petroleum Resources under General Sani Abacha, Mr. Dan Etete was again provided by SaharaReporters. This letter was written after Mr. Aondoakaa received a hefty bribe and was aimed at convincing the French authorities that Etete was innocent on the Nigerian side. This letter was duly ignored by the French court that later sentenced the former minister to jail in absentia.

(c) A report detailing how the minister purchased a house -23 David Bamigboye Street, at the Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja worth N110 million from a former member of the House of Representatives Mr. Kayode Amusan from Ogun State. Though he explained it away as belonging to his cousin, a certain Mr. Robert Orhya; yet up till now, Mr. Aondoakaa has staunchly ignored our challenge that he produces the title and documentations in the name of the said Mr. Robert Orhya or cause the latter to do same to support his claim.

(d) A memo written to the Nigerian Law Reform Commission requesting N1.1 million. This amount was requested from each department of the Ministry of Justice for a mere press conference.

(e) Information about the chassis numbers of two cars Mr. Aondoakaa received from former Abia State governor Orji Uzor Kalu as bribe.

(f) Mr. Aondoakaa’s curious stoppage of the prosecution of businessman Jimoh Ibrahim on forgery charges even where the EFCC had claimed it had a watertight case against him complete with solid evidence.

(g) The withdrawals of cash by the EFCC chairperson in the name of “Information Fund” were itemized with dates, names of officials involved and the amount of money withdrawn.

(h) On the property at 10 Porto Novo Street, Wuse II, Abuja SaharaReporters has provided the necessary information to back this up already. We presented facts about the location of the house and the existence of a N5 million Access Bank draft paid on the property.

(i) On the property at Plot 1460, 25 Trent River Street, Maitama, Abuja SaharaReporters provided overwhelming documentary evidence of Mrs. Waziri’s corrupt dealings and shenanigans with regard to true ownership of the property.

(j) On the armored Mercedes Benz GL (SUV) gift to Mrs. Waziri from Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State, we gave the chassis number as WDC 1648711A 390877 and the colour as black. Some interesting facts here are that when the Akwa Ibom State Governor denied the initial story, we followed up with revelations of the identity of the seller, Mr. Charles Ahize of Atlantic Motors who is well known to you. You told me in earlier phone conversations that Mr. Ahize had denied to you that he supplied the vehicle. Yet, up till now, Mr. Ahize has not publicly denied this and you didn’t think it wise to ask him to do so if he felt our report was untrue neither did you find it wise to encourage Mrs. Waziri to come out publicly to deny this as well. Of course, on your part, you publicly kept silent as well.

(9) The above list, as most Nigerians and well-wishers of Nigeria who’ve been following our work would attest to, is not exhaustive; but I need to just make the point that whatever is holding you back has got nothing to do with lack of evidence or information to at least put you on inquiry. For instance, I find it surprising that you are still asking for further evidence from me on the “Information Fund” business when in fact you could have simply requested the EFCC authorities to address the issues raised in the report. I expect you to also be able to ask the EFCC to furnish you and me with Nuhu Ribadu's "Information Fund" expenses, since you have access to the leadership of the organization. Throwing back the challenge to me to provide you with documents actually negates the earlier promise you made to me to investigate the matter before responding to my letter. Also, on Mrs. Waziri’s Porto Novo property, I would have thought as someone maintaining a prominent law office in Abuja you would have been able to simply check the details of this transaction with the Federal Capital Territory officials in the city, since you said you would condemn the act, if found to be true. After all, we did provide a photograph of the building in question.

(10) I note that in reference to Ribadu, you stated that you “disagree with those who now seek to build our collective struggle to enthrone a corrupt-free society around a policeman who was picked by a corrupt dictator, bent on perpetuating himself in office, to do his bidding” and that “when it came to the crunch, this same policeman refused to lift a finger, despite a mass of evidence” against certain persons you listed. The people you listed are Andy Uba, Alao-Akala, Bode George, Femi Fani-Kayode, Kenny Martins, Professor Borishade, Iyabo Obasanjo and Nasir El-Rufai. I can’t agree more. However, what I have to point out to you and Nigerians is the fact that we at SaharaReporters did as much if not more than any person, group or institution to expose these people and provide the leads that should have helped in bringing them to justice if these were properly followed. I will at this point list the individual cases and remind you, Nigerians and well wishers of Nigeria what role we played and what I think you should be doing now as follow-up to our work:


(i) Andy Uba: I was the first Nigerian to do an extensive investigative report on him, exposing his money laundering case with the FBI. This is documented by Wikipedia- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andy_Uba. The question we need to ask now is why hasn’t the EFCC has still not picked up this individual. He left office nearly two years ago, May 2007 and despite his attempt to buy the governorship seat of Anambra State, the courts have put him in his place. Why hasn't the Mrs. Waziri-led EFCC arrested and prosecuted Mr. Uba? Indeed, in the days before you took up the job of representing EFCC, you told me that based on our story you had taken Andy Uba to court in a civil case. You were so impressed that you said you will be reading SaharaReporters and be taking cases and documents from there to prosecute these people. You said you would be calling me on this level, and sent me all your contact details for same.

(ii) Alao-Akala: Again, we were the first to publish that he was compulsorily retired from the Nigeria Police Force, and provided documents from his sordid past to that effect. We also published charges drawn up against him by Ibrahim Magu formerly of the EFCC over acts of corruption. Although today he’s a Governor, we still think you can improve upon our investigation to eventually bring him to justice in your present capacity and with the influence you obviously command. While I would not recommend that you use unlawful tactics to do this, I believe there is enough leeway in our anti-corruption legislations to get a clearly corrupt governor, in spite of the immunity clauses. At least, you and I know that there is judicial authority in support of investigating a sitting governor.

(iii) Bode George: We have published several reports on Bode George's activities, including tracing him around the world when he suddenly disappeared from Nigeria on a long vacation, first to his concubine's place in Maryland, US and then later to London, UK. We have also published the full content of the Investigative Panel report on Mr. George. So, expect us to pop champagne if and when his prosecution is concluded without a scandalous plea bargain, as we are wont to have now under the present EFCC dispensation. Hopefully, when the time comes, it won’t be a case of the EFCC not having witnesses to fully prosecute him.

(iv) Femi Fani Kayode: Today he’s on trial, but we were the first to do a report about money laundering issues concerning him. We reported in 2007 about an attempt by a certain Chioma Anansoh to smuggle huge amount of cash out of Nigeria through a Nigerian airport. It is welcome development that he is facing justice several months after we provided the lead.

(v) Kenny Martins (Obasanjo's –in-law): Though we haven't written much about this man, we however wrote a detailed expose about one Doris Uboh, a sister of George Uboh, Mr. Martins’ associate. Ms Uboh is now a member of the House of Representatives. In our report, we detailed how she ran way from trial in the US in a criminal case with docket number 1:92-cr-00041-GET-JRS (USA v. Uboh, et al). Doris was the 7th defendant while her brother George Uboh was the 1st defendant. It will interest you to know that George Uboh was a high-level consultant to the Police Equipment Fund (PEF). When a local newspaper culled our story, Doris Uboh sued for libel and I was informed that you are representing the paper-National Daily. You were widely quoted as saying that the case was a weak one claiming that there was not enough evidence to back up our claims on Doris Uboh's fugitive status, yet the EFCC later asserted via a press release that Doris's brother George Uboh was an ex-convict as a way of justifying the criminality of the PEF transactions. I’m not a lawyer, but perhaps if you had taken the Doris case more seriously, you would have detected earlier on that Saharareporters through its meticulous reportorial style unearthed some of the scams before anyone else.

(vi) Professor Aborisade: We did not do any detailed work on him more than what is publicly available.

(vii) Iyabo Obasanjo-Bello: We were the first to expose her corrupt activities as far back as 2006, complete with an exclusive picture of her at the Jakarta Airport as she was being welcomed by John Karamoy, former Chairman of PT Medco Energi International. We also followed up with a detailed report on the child kidnap case in the US. From what we see, the case isn’t exactly going anywhere with the EFCC. You are now in a position to do something about this and we can only wish you luck.

(viii) Nasir El-Rufai: We have done detailed reports about him as well. In collaboration with The NEWS magazine we wrote several reports on El-Rufai (including reports on his associate, Jimi Lawal), the Pentascope deal as well as an indicting interview with Gbenga Obasanjo that led to a lawsuit. El-Rufai sued Gbenga Obasanjo, The NEWS and me as well because of the Gbenga Obasanjo interview. I note that while you are keen to nail Nasir El-Rufai, you have been completely silent over the corrupt dealings of his successor, Aliyu Modibbo who was probed by the EFCC for fraud, but has so far not been arrested and prosecuted. Part of the reason is probably because he remained powerful enough to distribute government lands to key news editors and the EFCC chairperson.

(11) The purpose of putting out the information (10) above about our role in the cases you alleged were ignored by by Ribadu is to let you see that at no point did we drop the ball. We have always been consistent in what we do. Today, Mrs. Waziri and the EFCC or the government of Yar’Adua may be your clients, but we still insist on holding them to the same standards we held Obasanjo’s government and Ribadu at the EFCC. Our commitment remains to the Nigerian people and not to any person or representative of government. Of course, in listing your recent work and achievements with the EFCC, it is not lost on discerning followers of our exchange that you have listed cases that affect former President Obasanjo's family, friends and acolytes as your primary targets. While I find this commendable, I want to remind you that going after a select group of persons put you squarely in the same old boat with Ribadu whom you and the rest of us have criticized repeatedly for being selective in his prosecutions at the EFCC. You know what is at stake today in our country and we know it too. But unlike you, we don't have a huge law firm with huge staff or resources behind us. We don't work with anyone in government and we don't enjoy any protection either. Instead we get hounded by the government of the day – a government you work for in your capacity as a private prosecutor for EFCC. Just last Friday, the Yar'Adua government appointed one Paul Orhii as the Director General of NAFDAC. This is the fellow that is suing me for $25 million before a US District Court in Texas over a report I wrote on his relationship with Aondoakaa. Both of us will have our day in court, but my commitment to the mission of exposing those ruining our country continues unabated.

Mr. Keyamo, I appreciate the effort you have put in to state your own side of this issue and I particularly appreciate the fact that you did not hesitate to state how well –to-do you are professionally and materially, all being as a result of your sweat and hard work. But Nigerians have watched you grow professionally and also as a national conscience through the work you’ve been doing. In the end, the issue boils down to this: Is your work now as a private prosecutor for EFCC compromising your role as an anti-corruption activist, social commentator and defender of public good? If it is not, keep up the good work of exposing those ruining our country by speaking out against them (whether they are in the EFCC or anywhere within government and whether or not SaharaReporters or Omoyele Sowore provides you with “duly authenticated documents”). But if it is, you owe it to Nigerians to explain to them that you cannot continue in your role as a public conscience because of your present work. You can tell them here and now that you are taking a break from that role to concentrate on your work with the EFCC and the Nigerian government. Those who will criticize you will do so; those who understand will give you the benefit of doubt. But at least, you would have been open to them about exactly what the situation is. You cannot run with the hares and hunt with the hounds

I knew keyamo was not telling it all. . . . .  . . . .over to u mr keyamo.

domisakin:
In honesty I agree with what you have said kobo.

Just to clarify i am still young, and perhaps slightly naive about the world in which we live in. What you are saying, and the outcome i was hoping for, is the fact that me being born and raised in Britain wouldnt make my cause destined for failure. I'll agree with you, i wont be ready to enter the Nigerian political scene for some time - not least till i have truly lived and experienced the problems facing Nigeria. I'm sure there arent any 22 year old politicians in Nigeria (of course i could be wrong!) and thus any intention to enter the political scene would require experience at the bare minimum - which i hope to obtain within the country. Before then i am even considering studying for a Masters degree in some politics related field.

It is at least heartening to know that my aspirations in Nigerian politics are potentially achieveable.

P.S. If you run for mayor of London, you have my vote! 

First, I will b disapponted at ur cawordice if u back off from ur aspirations because of the jejune and antideluvian road blocks raised by kobo. you will meet many more of this road blocks, learn the act of ignoring them.

What u have is a brilliant dream, an aspiration to change ur motherland. U have the most important tool, which is the passion, all others will follow.
Instead of worrying about how corruption and the spoils of money will stop u from realising ur dream, y not properly define ur dream. its not enough to b passionate.

ideologies and programs to b implemented in power must be well defined and this is probably d best time to do so at this age.

Dont forget that the likes of buhari and murtala had the passion and dream to biuld a great country, fortunately for them
they attained power, but in reality they were unprepared for it, as they did next to nothing to improve the standard of living and economic well being of the country.

there is a new generation of nigerians rising up out there, who have similar aspirations, hope and dream of a better country. They are not scared nor intimidated by the limitless road blocks ahead.
preparation is the key, before u  know it the alarm will sound and nigeria will b redeemed, until then , dont loose hope.

sartorius:
Mr president wasnt ready for the job obj foisted him on us, 'the political north' advices him, lets be a little optimistic , Nigerians are very funny people

hear ur self. . . ,   ,  . .  . . . . .and y hasnt he resigned? GREED

sartorius:
another 4 year term would ensure that the 7 point agenda of Mr president flourishes

do u really know what his seven point agenda is all about?
the seven things he listed, have they not being part of budget projections since 1960? So wat exactly is this 7 point agenda other than propaganda? He is a power drunk illitrate.

sartorius:
well ,whether we like it or not, the north will have to complete 8 years , its either atiku or someother dark horse to start afresh in 2011 or yaradua complete his 8 years term

and what difference does it make if the political north stays in power for 8 years or atiku runs?
we need basic infastructure, wealth creation and national convictions biult on the rule of law.
above all we need leadership . . . .   .

uhn uhn. . . . y not make him life president?

uhmn. . . . . , its nice, but heaven haba

I actually heard he attends celestial church. . . . .  .

friendship confirmed.

[quote author=game_rod link=topic=208792.msg3236947#msg3236947 date=1229532049]mad people on Nairaland

When will Nigerians be ever satisfied?

Nigeria is doomed upon your head, poster.

Not everyone shares your opinion that Nigeria is doomed based on your conjured up anomalies.[/quote]and what is anomalous in what d poster has posted?

This is a very unfortunate appointment.

The apparent aim of this appointment is to use her hard earned credibility and nation wide acceptability to enable yaradua spread his propagandas,including
y he has refused to declare an emergency in d power sector _{i still dont know wat that will achieve}
the new found zeal to rob the country blind and paralyse the efcc
and the new acceleration towards economic downturn and incessant underdevelopment.

I hope she has the wisdom to reject the posting and request for either education or health, where she can possibly make an effective difference. an alternative is to resign and not tarnish her image.

but in a nation where people are celebrated for the wrong reasons, i dont c her towing the path of honour.